Nationalism

The nation

- Nation is or should be the central principle of political organisation

- what is a nation? hard to say because words like nation, state and country are used interchangeably

- People define nations differently but basically nations are cultural entities, people bound together by shared values and traditions, common language, religion, history, living in the same place

- language is a clear symbol of nationhood. German nationalism is characterised by survival of the german language. but people who share the same language are not always part of the same nation e.g. English people and American people. Switzerland is a nation but there are 3 languages spoken there

- Religion is a component of nationhood. N.Ireland - people speak the same language but are divided by religion - Catholics and Protestants. Poland, Italy and Brazil all have Catholicism as their religion but do not see themselves as a Catholic nation

- Nations are also based on ethnic/racial…